1. All societies in one way or another establish roles and expectations for people of different genders and cultural groups. Research the roles and expectations of the early 1930s, the time period covered by this novel. Analyze the extent to which the characters in this work uphold traditional roles.

2. Review the descriptions of slavery in this work and compare them with descriptions in other works for young adults such as Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates or Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petty. Identify the major differences in the descriptions and give as many reasons as you can that account for these differences.

3. Mary Logan is fired from her job as a secondary school teacher because of negative testimony from one of her son's friends and school board members' dissatisfaction with her teaching philosophy. Assume the...